Raising Bella in springtime

Spring can be a time of quirky
deception in the Rocky Mountains. All manner of creatures are born
into this seasonal maelstrom, where soothing sunshine one moment
can give way almost instantaneously to a howling snow squall.

I pity the frail calves and lambs born wet on the High
Plains. They trudge dutifully behind their mothers in all manner of
mucky weather, perhaps all too acutely aware that a belly full of
milk is all that stands between them and the ever-opportunistic
coyotes. I had filled the bird feeders outside my back door out of
concern for the house finches and juncos foraging in the recent
snow. But stepping out to check on the feeders, I surprised a
cooper's hawk neatly camouflaged among the branches of a mountain
mahogany. It would seem that my intent merely to feed the birds had
a deeper, graver implication than I had imagined, especially if I
was enabling one species to snatch and eat another.

The
world can seem cruel or harsh in this respect, and a long winter
can engender a kind of desperation — not just to feed
oneself, but to feed the soul as well. I suppose this is why many
people flee mountain towns and cities for tropical destinations
— skin cancer from too much sun, airline congestion, bed
bugs, pickpockets and gastroenteritis bedamned. But I wouldn't miss
a Western spring for the world, from the first flowers struggling
up through the cold ground to these first warm days. Then, there's
the lilting, liquid song of the meadowlark, harbingers of longer
and milder days to come.

This last autumn, my old dog
Blue finally succumbed to an aggressive tumor. He just seemed to
melt away, ravaged by the disease at the end. We buried him in a
corner of the property just before Thanksgiving.

I
endured winter without my dog, and when the wind came up to scour
the earth away from the tufts of needlegrass and blue grama,
Blue7;s red sandstone marker tilted crazily in the incessant gusts.
Come vernal equinox, I had had enough, and I began to hunt through
those free papers filled with ads that you find at grocery and
hardware stores. When I saw the ad for heeler puppies, I was over
at that ranch within an hour, but only when I returned the
following day with Susanne and the kids could we collectively reach
a decision.

My new dog, Bella, came home smelling of
grass hay and afterbirth, and only after we'd bathed her could we
see what a true beauty she was, with her pugilist's black-eye ring,
the heart-shaped, motor-oil-colored stain on her rump, her
luxuriously plush coat the color of desert sand.

At eight
weeks old, Bella shares few human concerns, busying herself with
terrorizing her new human pack-mates, savaging an old shearling
wool slipper, and grabbing the odd bite of puppy chow before
napping for hours.

With each awakening, her world is new
and fresh. A panoply of sights, sounds, textures, smells,
intriguing toys and ready playmates appear as if by magic before
her spotted muzzle. She is a small, yet potent herald of spring,
new life sprung from the chasm of winter. I revel in her detachment
from the cares of the world; I like seeing in her the essence of
spring.

Another bleak, wind-scoured day of early spring,
and from a small, battered radio in the kitchen early in the
morning, an announcer intones endlessly about the war in Iraq, the
spiraling price of a barrel of crude, climate change. Just then, a
small tawny pup parades by, dapper in her fur "onesy," holding
proudly aloft in her small jaws a set of underpants pilfered from
the laundry pile. I fall about the place laughing.

Rob Cordery-Cotter is a contributor to Writers on the
Range, a service of High Country News in Paonia,
Colorado (hcn.org). He is a veterinarian in LaPorte,
Colorado.

Note: the opinions expressed in this column are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of High Country News, its board or staff. If you'd like to share an opinion piece of your own, please write Betsy Marston at betsym@hcn.org.